Sandra Bullock's ex-husband Jesse James was pestered by the public non-stop for months after confessing to cheating on America's sweetheart.

The Gravity actress ended her five-year marriage to the TV car expert in April, 2010, two months after the Monster Garage star issued a public apology to his then-wife, owning up to his infidelity.

Recalling the experience seven years ago, Jesse tells the DailyMail.com he couldn't escape harsh criticism from Bullock's fans and those who just hated him for what he did to the Oscar winner.

“I think it was having 50 or 60 or paparazzi outside my house for five or six months (that drove me nuts)," the 47-year-old shares, noting he was often on the verge of losing his temper in public. "That was not a good feeling. I'm a fighter, man, I come from the tradition of, 'If you do something I don't like, I'm going to punch you'."

The star hated the attention: "You learn what's important (though)," he adds. "That whole fame thing is not really... It's meaningless when your quality of life goes to zero.”

In addition to having near-altercations with fans and paparazzi, Jesse also had to defend himself from critics online.

“In general, both women and men cheat. It's part of life... People love to see you fall. And the farther you get, the higher you get, the more they love it... I look at myself now and I look at how I was feeling then, and I think I was completely overreacting as far as letting it really get to me.”

James has no regrets about his indiscretions and he now feels he's suffered and repented enough.

“Yeah, I did cheat on my wife, yeah,” he says, “(but) I stood up and took accountability for it and apologised. And that's end of story (sic).”